Rutter and teammates Larissa Kelly and David Madden split the top prize, with Jennings, Matt Jackson and Monica Thieu sharing $300,000. Colby Burnett, Pam Mueller and Alan Lin took third place and $100,000 on the show hosted by Alex Trebek.

Rutter entered the contest as the top winner on any game show with a haul of $4.3 million in regular and tournament “Jeopardy!” play. Jennings was a 74-game winner and top moneymaker in the quiz show’s non-tournament competition with $2.5 million.

“To see it come down to the two heavyweights was the perfect culmination of it,” Madden said in an interview. “It certainly did not disappoint in terms of the quality of play, and we just got lucky that Brad pulled the Daily Doubles when needed and had a great round.”

“Ken played great, too, as did Team Colby,” he said, graciously.

For his part, team captain Rutter was happy to share the credit with Madden and Kelly.

“The money is great, but these champs aren’t here for the money. They’re here for the glory,” he said. “I wanted to bring it home for my team, because they worked so hard and prepared so well and played so well.”

A daring $10,000 bet by Rutter ended up making the contest a lock, Kelly said. A history buff, Rutter said he felt confident enough about the category, Colonial America, to go big. (He knew which war Britain’s 1764 Sugar Act was intended to retroactively pay for. If the answer doesn’t spring to mind, here’s a refresher .)

“Brad and I have probably played against each other more than any two other people in ‘Jeopardy!’ history, but it’s never enough for me,” Jennings said in a statement. “On the one hand, I’m thinking, ‘Just once, can somebody take this guy out in the semis?’ But on the other hand, you want to see how you stack up against the best talent available.”

Kelly called Rutter’s performance “incredible to watch.” It also made easy work for her in the final round of “Jeopardy!” as she faced a question about constitutional amendments.

“I was assuming I would have to get it right, and it turned out it didn’t matter at all. I was totally in a no-pressure situation,” she said, happily.

The winning teammates boast longtime friendships. Madden and Kelly were quiz-bowl teammates at Princeton, and Rutter and Madden met at a tournament in 2006. Playing as a trio was an “amazing aspect of the whole experience,” Madden said.